Tag: rest

Genesis 2:1-4a

So the universe was finished. Everything. On Day 7, God finished the whole opus, and when it was all done, God rested. God blessed Day 7, and set it apart from the other days, because that was the day God rested after making the universe.

And that is how the universe all hung together when it was made.

If you’ve ever taken a vacation, or had a day off after a long hard week, you’ve probably blessed the time of rest. How you bless it doesn’t really matter. If it’s vegging out on the couch, taking a nap in your favorite chair, playing a game with the kids, looking through old photographs – whatever it is for you is fine. And everyone needs a break now and then.

Additional meanings of Sabbath rest will develop through other stories, but here, in the creation story, the angle is simply that the universe doesn’t hang together quite right when you don’t have a chance to rest. Part of what makes creation complete is the chance to simply be, without having to do anything. There are no rules about Sabbath at this stage. It is whatever is restful.

There aren’t any rules about when it happens either. It needn’t always happen on a particular day of the week. It could be a moment, an hour, a day, or several days. It doesn’t necessarily have to be at regular intervals. It happens when the “whole work is finished,” and you look back and say, “wow!”

Tomorrow (or soon) the work will resume again. But for now, just let the work be complete. Rest. Be. And be blessed.